My father has taken a turn for the worst, and I want to be near home for moral support. The problem is I've not lived in South West Ohio in seven years and other then my family, I've got no connection with the place any more, so I'm a bit blind at the moment.

I've already found a few nice place's in Covington KY that seem to offer a good bang for the buck and are cheap as hell, so finding a home isn't a issue. However, the job market seems to be nearly none existent (which I was aware of, but didn't realize just how bad it really is!).

I've been selling jewelry and high end men's and women's fashion for years now and love the work. I'm a people person, and I'd like to stay doing this. Am I going to be walking in to the desert if I move back? I don't need to find work right away, but I also don't want to be sedate in my position and let what I've worked so hard for fall apart.

The math says that I need to gross $45k a year to keep up with things at a bare minimum, do jobs like this even exist in a good economic climate for high end retail?

Sure, switch to selling cell phones. 6 figure income is still possible, at least with verizon. Some working at the mall stores are making above the 45k that you are looking for. Insight cable pays more than 45k for it's sales reps, I don't know if they are in that area.

I'm in Cleveland, so my observations are somewhat "long distance" and should probably be taken with a grain of salt... It seems like the economy in the Columbus area is much better than it is in the Cincinnati area, so you may have better emloyment prospects there, and it's only, what, about an hour and a half from Cinci?? There is a relatively new, upscale retail complex called Easton Town Center on the northeast side of town, and it seems to be doing fairly well - take a look at the Ohio Spotters Thread for the regular exotic sightings that occur there! Given your background and desires, you may want to go to their web site/store directory and start making inquiries. I give you credit for making some tough decisions for the right reasons - good luck!!

Thanks for the input folks. I spoke to a few diamond grader's that were interested in me, and the salary they offered was nothing short of a insult. I understand that it's hard times, but the offers are less then half of norm!

I guess I'm just going to suck it up and take what ever I can that pays enough .